Switch In Reality
by Ro Noble
Summary: Leaving home, finding friends, seeking family, forming new bonds and being tasked with the sudden responsibility of defending the Universe—the Paladins of Voltron are treading on thin lines as they're suddenly thrown into this new lifestyle together. [A.K.A The Role Swap AU that nobody asked for.]
1. Chapter 1

©DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN VOLTRON: LEGENDARY DEFENDER! IT IS OWNED BY DREAMWORKS! THIS IS FAN-MADE!

* * *

CHAPTER 1

The machine gave a harsh whine before humming to a stop as it extracted the capsule from beneath the surface of the ice. With brows pinched in concentration, the block of ice was removed slowly by delicate hands.

"That's it lad, ease it out." Coran spoke as he watched Matt examine the ice block in his hands as it was pulled out. "Just remember that it's quite delicate."

Matt let a small grin pass over his features. "Amazing." He turned to look over his shoulder at his fellow pilot.

"Isn't this exciting, Lance?" Matt called out, eyes sparkling with energy.

Lance rose a brow and gave the smaller male a flat look, "Yep, I'm brimming with excitement. Can't you tell?"

Matt deflated with a pout as he handed the ice block to Coran. "Lance!"

A snort escaped the lanky man as he stepped away from the tools and he lifted a hand to his face, snickering harder as he accidentally knocked against the visor of his helmet instead.

"Oh relax, of _course_ I'm excited." Lance laughed, clapping Matt on the arm.

"As you should be." Coran spoke, smiling fondly at his two pupils. He gestured towards the ice block that he was currently setting safely into one of the transport capsules. "We're making _history_. Not only have we traveled farther than any human ever has, but this ice could hold microscopic clues about the existence of life outside Earth."

"Just think, Lance." Matt spoke, awe coating his words as he slung an arm around Lance's shoulders. "We could use those clues to become the first people to meet _aliens_."

"My life's work would be complete if that were so." Coran said as he closed the capsule.

Lance sighed dreamily, "Tell me about it. Being the first to meet some intergalactic _babes_ would make _my_ life complete _._ " He joked, making Matt roll his eyes.

Suddenly, tremors wracked through the ground causing the three to stumble over themselves.

"What on Earth is _this_?" Coran started, startled. "Seismic activity?"

"Let's head back to the ship." Lance suggested. However, the area was shrouded in sudden darkness and the three looked up, only to stare in disbelief and awe at the sight of a cruiser ship making its way overhead.

"What the _cheese_?!" Lance gasped as he took a startled step back.

"Wha _—_? What is that?" Coran exclaimed as the ship grew closer. "It can't be…"

There was whirring sound and on the bow of the ship, it began to glow a bright energy. Lance's eyes widened as he realized one thing: If they didn't move now, things weren't going to end well.

"A-Ah, now _—_ " Lance gulped, watching the energy get brighter and larger with each passing millisecond. " _—_ is the time to _run_!" He stumbled, backpedaling and pulled Coran and Matt along, " _Run!_ "

The three of them broke out into a sprint towards their ship as the cruiser suddenly expelled a large brightly colored beam of energy over the ground below; it quickly grew in size, expanding over the area and sucking up all their supplies they abandoned in their haste.

Lance's pulse thundered in his as ears as they pushed their legs as fast as humanly possible but alas, they could not outrun the beam and he watched in horror as the bright light washed over his teammates from his peripheral vision, before he too was engulfed; fear and dizziness the last thing he felt before everything went dark.

 **.*.*.**

Lance awoke slowly, to the sound of an unfamiliar voice; strong and heavy and speaking in dialect he barely could understand.

"Emperor Zarkon...we were scouting... system X-9-Y as ordered…"

' _System?_ ' Lance pondered slowly before his eyes widened, the memories flowing back in an instant and he snapped his head up.

Firstly, his hands were bound behind his back, he discovered as he nearly toppled over from lack of balance; he only avoided falling due to being so close to the ground already. Secondly, at the sight of a tall being standing on a platform talking through a virtual screen, Lance felt his hackles rise in dread as he started to piece together his situation.

' _Holy crow, we were_ _ **abducted**_ _by_ _ **aliens**_ _.'_

"...when we found these...primitive scientists. I don't think...they know anything useful."

 _"Take them back...to the main fleet for interrogation…"_ A deep, warped voice spoke through the monitor.

Wait, _'them'_? Lance looked around in startle before his eyes landed on the still, unmoving body's of his teammates next to him, bounded and on their knees as well.

" _The Druids...will find out what they know."_

Lance also realized with great fear, the guards standing behind his friends, holding them at gunpoint and became overtly aware of the barrel he felt softly poking at the back of his head.

Desperate, Lance turned back to the front, his heart ramming his chest.

"Please!" The brunette watched as the alien turned around at his outburst, staring at him hard with beady yellow eyes.

"We come from a peaceful planet!" Lance continued. "W-We mean you no harm! We're unarmed!"

He let out a noise of pain suddenly as the feeling of something hard and solid slamming into the back of his neck sent his world tilting before fading as he lost consciousness once more.

 **.*.*.**

"Galaxy Garrison flight log 5-11-14. Begin descent to Kerberos for rescue mission." The voice of a young man carried through the small spacekraft as he pulled on the control wheel roughly, making the ship take a sharp left turn into a nosedive towards the ice surface of the satellite, Kerberos.

A groan echoed behind him from his fellow teammate. "Shiro!" Shiro's brows pinched in mild annoyance, as sweat beaded his brow. "Could you please keep this thing straight?"

"Relax, Allura." Shiro assured as he watched the surface get closer and closer. "I'm just getting a feel for the stick. I mean it's not like I did _this_!" He smirked as he gave a sharp jerk to the control, pulling the ship in for another, even deeper nosedive.

Allura clutched at her controls with a frighten squeak, the shaking of the ship making her feel unsteady.

"Or _this_!" Shiro gave another jerk and Allura felt ill, nausea pooling in her gut.

"Okay…" She spoke weakly, her voice growing with volume, "...Unless you plan to remove shortcake from all the little nooks and crannies in this thing, you'd best _knock it off!_ "

A melodic beep interrupted before Shiro could retort. "We've picked up a distress beacon." Hunk called out.

Shiro pressed a couple of buttons overheard, smirking. "Alright team look alive. Hunk, track those coordinates."

"Copy." The other man replied, immediately typing while the ship gave another rattle, causing Allura to clutch her chair.

"Shiro, stop it _please_!" she begged. Shiro 'tsk'ed and shook his head. "I'm afraid to disappoint but this one's on you, hon. We've got a hydraulic stabilizer out."

Allura's eyes widened as she quickly pulled down a monitor. She gripped it tightly as the ship rocked once more, swallowing slowly as the nausea threatened to become more.

"Oh no." She groaned weakly.

Shiro snapped to attention, "Oh no, no no—fix now, puke later!" He snapped.

"I lost contact." Hunk informed, voice laced with irritation, "The shaking is interfering with our sensors."

"Allura, _please_!" Shiro called, looking back at the girl. Allura was typing frantically on the monitor.

"It's not responding." She unbuckled her seatbelt and stumbled over to the main gear box. The coordinates of the distress call appears again on Shiro's monitor.

"Oh! Well then, never mind. Target is locked." Shiro said. "Preparing for approach on visual."

"Uh," Hunk started, looking over to Shiro. "I don't think that's advisable with our current mechanical and…" He looked over at Allura who was hunched over the box, looking visible ill. "... gastrointestinal issues."

"Agreed." Allura nodded weakly.

Shiro threw a frown in their direction, "Quit worrying! This baby can take it." He grinned as stroked across the control board. "Can't you?"

A rumbled of the ship was his answer and he retracted his hand, "Okay maybe not." He murmured. "Hunk, hail down at them and let them know help is here."

Hunk unbuckled his seatbelt as he stood to reach for the microphone. "Attention lunar vessel—" Hunk shouted out as he was flung to the floor. Shiro jumped in startle at the bang,

"Are you crazy? Get back in you seat and buckled up! And Allura, stop that shaking!"

He grimaced as the sound of heaving was his only reply.

"Attention lunar vessel, this is Galaxy Garrison Rescue Craft One Victor Six Three Tango. Coming in for landing and extraction." Hunk spoke before giving Shiro a glare, "Against crew recommendations."

"No time for your mutinous comments now, Hunk. They're going under and we're going in." The raven-haired man pulled the ship into a dive towards the surface of Kerberos.

"Look out for that overhang!" Hunk warned.

"No worries! I got this!" Shiro called back as sweat trickled down his temple. "Just sit tight and let Ace-Pilot Shiro work his magic!"

The overhang was approaching quickly and Shiro's fists tightened on the controls, his teammates letting out startled yelps as he swerved. "Come around, come around! Come on, come on—!"

There was loud crashing noise outside their ship and Shiro froze in dread.

"We lost a wing!" Allura exclaimed, looking at ship's interface.

"Oh, man…" Shiro muttered as he let his hands relax, allowing the ship to hit the surface before his window went dark.

" _**SIMULATION FAILED**_."

"Nice going, _Ace_." Hunk snapped quietly. The door in the back swooshed open and Commander Iverson leaned in,

"Roll out maggots!"

It was soon after that the three cadets found themselves standing before their classmates, lined up and awaiting their scolding.

"Well let's see if we can use this complete failure as a lesson for the rest of you students. Can anyone point out the mistakes these three so-called cadets made in the simulator?" Iverson asked.

"The engineer puked in the main gearbox!" A random student spoke up.

"Yes, as everyone knows, vomit is _not_ an approved lubricant for engine systems. What else?"

Allura looked down shamefully.

A student said, "The Comm Spec removed his safety harness." while another said, "The pilot crashed!"

Iverson nodded, "Correct. And worst of all, the whole jump, they're arguing with each other!" He turned his glare onto the three students. "Heck, if you're going to be this bad individually, you'd better at least be able to work as a team! Galaxy Garrison exists to turn young cadets like you into the next generation of elite astro-explorers, but these kind of mental mistakes are exactly what cost the lives of the men on the Kerberos Mission."

Hunk bristled, "That's not true, sir!"

Iverson's eye narrowed, "What did you say?"

Allura quickly reacted by covering Hunk's mouth, while Shiro spoke up nervously.

"I'm sorry, sir!" He held his hands up in a placating manner. "I-I think he may have hit his head when he fell out of his chair. But point taken."

With heavy step, Iverson stalked towards Shiro, "I hope I don't need to remind you that the only reason you're here is that the best pilot in your class had a discipline issue and flunked out." Iverson glared in irritation and Shiro's heart leaped into his throat. " _Don't_ follow in her footsteps." With those as his final words, he turned away from them.

" _Next_!"

Shiro, Allura, and Hunk dejectedly watch as their classmates board the simulator.

It was later, when evening had settled in and the stars had come out that the quiet of the Garrison was interrupted as commanders released notice that curfew had begun and students should retreat to their dorm rooms.

Shiro and Allura peaked around a corner as they watched the back of one of the commanders disappear into a room.

"We shouldn't be doing this." Allura whispered. Shiro waved her off, "You heard Commander Iverson. We need to bond as a team. We're going to grab Hunk, hit the town, loosen up, and have some fun—"

"OK, ok, I get it but I'm just saying this here, right now, on the record: This is a bad idea."

The lights turned off and Shiro dashed down the hallway, Allura following behind him uneasily.

"You know, for someone in a space exploration program, you don't have much of a sense of adventure." Shiro quipped as he pressed up against a wall.

Allura frowned in irritation, "Excuse me, but all of your little 'adventures' end up with me in the principal's office." She looked behind them. Shiro peeked into the Instructor's Lounge window before ducking underneath the pane, motioning for Allura to follow, whom let out an exasperated sigh yet followed.

"Honestly Shiro…"

The two of them continued to duck and weave through the facility, shoving into cramped spaces or posing behind inanimate objects to avoid being caught. A breath of relief was expelled by them both as they just managed to hide in time as a guard walked from around the corner.

" _L-5 North all clear_." They waited a moment as the guard's footsteps faded before Shiro stepped out from supply shoot, pulling Allura along with him.

"That should be the last of them for a while." Shiro sighed, checking his wrist watch. "They don't usually come up this wing after a certain time."

"Should I even ask how you know this?" Allura rose a brow.

Shiro winked, "Can't go sharing my secrets, now can I hon?" He grinned, "Now, to go and find Hunk so we can ditch this place already."

The sound of an automated door opening had Shiro pushing Allura back against a wall close to them. Holding their breath, they wait anxiously for whoever to exit but were rendered to confusion at the sight of Hunk leaving Iverson's office with a large backpack and taking off down the hall.

"Where's he going?" Allura questioned aloud, and Shiro merely shrugged in response before the two of followed after.

Hunk wiped his brow as he finished setting up his equipment, giving it all one final once over before settling on the ground, crossed-legged. He reached out and placed his headset on, then turned some dials on one of the devices. He watched as the feed stabilized and let out a breath, closing his eyes, listening to the murmurs and broken static through his speakers with a pinched brow.

" _V-v-voltron…_ "

He opened his eyes, ready to grab his notepad but screeched in surprise at the sight of Shiro squatting before him, elbows resting on his knees and staring at him with a lax grin.

Hunk ripped his headset off, "What the heck man?!"

Shiro seemed unfazed, "Come here often?"

Hunk stared at the other man with naked bewilderment before slapping a palm to his face, letting out a wheezing breath of air.

"N-no, Shiro just…" He peeked at him through his fingers, "...looking at the stars?"

The other gave a tilt of his head, raven bangs falling into his eyes as he gave a flat look. "Really now?"

"Um, pardon me." Hunk turned to the side to see Allura examining the equipment with heavy interest, "But where did you get this stuff? It doesn't look like Garrison technology."

Hunk gave a smug expression as pride swelled in his chest, "I _built_ it."

"You built all this?" Shiro reached out to touch one of the consoles but Hunk smacked his hand away before he could.

"Stop it!" The brunette admonished, glaring. He turned back to Allura, "With this thing, I can scan all the way to the edge of the solar system."

"Is that so?" Allura murmured, her gaze softening, "Even...all the way to Kerberos?"

Hunk blinks and looked away, not responding. Allura sighs.

"Hunk..." She began, "You get angry every time the instructors bring it up and I find it quite...strange, seeing as you don't have any particular connection to it."

Shiro shifted a small satellite. Hunk growled, "Knock it off man."

Allura touched Hunk's shoulder and the brunette was forced to look at her. In her pale blue eyes, he found raw pain and anguish shining in their depths.

"Please." She begged. "If there is something you know of the Kerberos mission, please tell me."

Shiro stared at Allura sadly, it was no secret that her uncle was head of the Kerberos mission and thus one of the three pronounced dead pilots. Professor Coran was a well respected scientist at the academy and even Shiro himself, looked up to him. To have him disappear so suddenly along with the others took its toll out of everyone, but Allura most of all.

It was this knowledge that had Hunk staring helplessly into her blue orbs before letting out a withered sigh, "Alright fine." He conceded, "Let's just say things are about to start changing. The Kerberos mission wasn't lost because of some malfunction or crew mistake—" The annoyance that Hunk felt as he caught Shiro reaching out to touch his monitor _again_ , from his side vision caused a visible vein in his temple as he felt his patience snap.

"— _stop touching my stuff!_ " He hissed sharply and Shiro relented in startle. He turned back to Allura, exhaling deeply, "... So I've been scanning the system and picking up alien radio chatter."

Allura blinks rapidly before stammering, "A-Alien?"

"Okay," Shiro frowned, "You're a wacko. Good to know."

"I'm serious!" Hunk pressed. He grabbed his notepad and showed it to them, pointing to a page with a word heavily circled. "They keep repeating one word: " _Voltron_ " _—_ and tonight, it's going crazier than I have _ever_ heard it."

Shiro rose a skeptic brow, "How crazy?"

Suddenly the system alarms started blaring as Iverson's voice filtered through the megacoms,

" _Attention, students. This is not a drill. We are on lockdown! Security situation Zulu Niner. Repeat: All students are to remain in barracks until further notice._ "

The three cadets looked about in worry, before Allura spotted a flaming object falling from the sky.

"Is that a _meteor_?!" She gasped fearfully, pointing up into the sky.

Hunk pulled on his binoculars, "Holy swiss rolls, it's a ship!" Shiro snatched the binoculars and looked through them himself, "I can't believe this! That is _not_ one of ours!"

"Could it be…" Allura whispered, as the three of them watch the ship crash land into the desert. Not too long after, did they also see the Garrison send out land rovers to the site. Hunk quickly began to pack up his equipment,

"Woah." Shiro spoke, "Where do you think you're going?"

Hunk looked at him, eye alit with a fire. "To the crash site, duh!" He stood, "We've gotta check out that ship!" He raced off the roof as Allura and Shiro shared a look before following after him.

However, they were forced to stake out on a cliffside, unable to get any closer to the crash site as the Garrison has dominated and quarantined the area. Hunk set up his gear once more as Shiro took his binoculars to get a closer look. He watched as the guards hauled the spacecraft onto a transport cart.

"Woah." He breathed, "What the heck is _that_ thing?" He looked around the area before spotting an attractive female guard.

"Ooh~ and who the heck is _she_?"

He let out a grunt of pain as Allura hit his arm, chastising him. "Right, right right. Alien ship." He set the binoculars down with a frown. "We'll never get past all those guards to get a look."

Allura nawed her thumbnail, "There has to be a way…"

"Hold up." Hunk spoke up, pausing his typing. "They set up surveillance and I managed to hack into its feed. Check it out."

Allura and Shiro hunched over Hunk's shoulders as they stared at the small screen. For a few moments there was nothing but static but soon the image began to clear up. On the screen, there was a person dressed in dark, tattered rags strapped down to the table while others in hazmat suits surrounded them.

" _W-wait!"_ A frantic voice called through the audio, _"What are you doing?!_ "

Hunk's chestnut colored irises shrunk as his eyes widened, taking in a sharp gasp of air.

" _Calm down, Lance."_ Iverson's voice filtered through, _"We just need to keep you quarantined until we run some tests on you._ "

" _You have to listen to me!_ " Lance spoke desperately, " _They destroyed worlds!_ " He struggled against his bonds. " _Aliens are coming!_ "

" _Lance…_ " The name felt heavy on his tongue as Hunk stared in awe. His friend...his _best friend_ was _alive_.

"...He's _alive_." Shiro and Allura wouldn't have heard such a small whisper had they not been so close to Hunk in the first place. Slowly, the pieces began to click in Shiro's mind and he opened his mouth to voice his thoughts but was interrupted by Iverson,

" _Do you know how long you have been gone?_ " He asked,

Lance panted as he looked around, wondering why these people weren't _listening._ " _I-I don't know. Months? Years? Look, there's no time!_ " He flinched as someone came over to him and scanned his face,

" _Alien are coming! They're looking for a weapon!_ " He struggled once more, " _They're going to destroy us all! We have— we have to find_ _ **Voltron**_ _!_ "

"Voltron!" Allura gasped, the three of them sharing a look of shock.

" _Sir look at this. It appears his arm has been replaced with a cyborg prosthetic._ " A technician spoke. Allura, Hunk and Shiro watched as Iverson gave the order to sedate Lance, who grew even more frantic, struggling even more so and voicing his objections.

"They didn't even ask about the other crew members…" Allura said weakly, staring at the scene with uncertain eyes.

"What are they _doing_?" Shiro muttered, "This is _the_ Lance McClain we're talking about! They're not even gonna listen to him?"

Hunk's eyes narrowed at the harsh treatment, "We need to get him out."

"But how on Earth will we get past the guards?" Allura inquired. Shiro sat back on his haunches, a pensive expression. "Could we tunnel in?"

Allura scratched her head, "Perhaps we could steal some hazmat suits and sneak in as medics?"

"No." Hunk said, pondering, "What we need is a distraction."

Suddenly, explosion burst in the distance and the three cadets screamed.

"Are those the aliens?" Allura shrieked, "Are they here?! Already?! They got here so quickly!"

Hunk squinted, watching as Garrison troops headed over to the explosion site and scanned the area.

"No." He said as he leaned over a bit, "Those explosions _were_ a distraction!" He pointed down below. "For _them_!" There was a hover vehicle approaching from the opposite direction of the explosion. "The Garrison's headed towards the blast, and they're sneaking in from the other side!"

Shiro pulled up the binoculars again, letting out a gasp. "No way! Where'd she come from?!" Shiro pulled off the binoculars and took off in a sprint down the cliffside.

"Who is it?" Allura called as she and Hunk stood to follow.

" _Katie!_ " Shiro shouted.

"Who?" Hunk questioned, while Allura went after Shiro, asking, "Are you positive?"

"I'd recognize that shrimp anywhere!"

Hunk sputtered, running after them, "Who's Katie?!"

Down at the base, Lance had finally been put under and Iverson looked over his testings. "These readings are off the chart."

Suddenly the door swooshed open to reveal a petite girl standing there with her auburn hair pulled into a ponytail and a bandanna over her face. Her hazel eyes narrowed.

"Hey!" Iverson called and charged at her, but was knocked flat onto his back as she kicked him in the chest; she jumped and stomped on his stomach before scurrying across the room. A technician charge at her before she grabbed his arm and flipped him over her shoulder, throwing him into the supply cart. She dodged a punch from the last one before tackling him, straddling over him and landing a solid right hook to his skull. She hurried over to the table and grabbed Lance's jaw, turning him to face her. Her eyes widened; despite all the new changes added to his face, it was one she recognized.

"Lance?" she whispered.

Katie let out a tense breathe as she released him, pulling out a knife from her belt and slicing his bonds. She pulled him up from the table and slung one of his arms around her shoulder, grunting from the weight.

"Hey!"

She jumped at the voice, glaring at the entrance but was surprised to see mere students.

"Where do you think you're taking him?!" Hunk hurried over and slung Lance's other arm over his shoulders, essentially taking Lance away from Katie. He gave her a glare which she returned wholeheartedly.

"Who are you?" She snapped.

"Nevermind who I am." Hunk retorted, "Answer my question: what were you going to do with Lance?"

Katie growled, "This guy here is the ticket to finding out where my brother is, so _hand him over_."

Hunk's glare became deadly, "Not a chance."

"Uh, guys?" Both snapped to attention at Allura's voice.

"I know things are really tense and kind of awkward but is now really the best time to pick a fight when the rest of the Garrison could come back any moment?" She hopped from one foot to another anxiously. "I say we leave now and argue later in a much more _safer_ space."

Katie frowned, "Come on. I have a hoverbike parked not too far from here."

The three of them ran out the ship only to find Shiro, staring out through the binoculars

"We gotta leave right now if we don't want our butts roasted because they're coming back and they do _not_ look happy." They all ran over to the large rocks that hid Katie's hoverbike and boarded, causing it to tip over.

"Is this thing going to be big enough for all of us?" Allura questioned as she helped Hunk steady Lance.

Katie gritted her teeth as she started up the engine. "No." She growled before taking off as the Garrison arrived. She hit the accelerator as they began pursuit.

"Hey, we did all fit!" Shiro spoke nervously as he held on for dear life.

"Can't this thing go any faster?" Hunk called.

"We could toss out some non-essential weight." Katie snarled.

"Hey! Keep your insults to yourself!" Hunk snapped back.

Katie turned back to glare at him but saw the Garrison was hot on their trails. "Oi! Pretty boy, lean left!"

Shiro nodded and did so, causing the hovercraft to turn. There was an explosion behind them as Garrison rovers crashed.

"Holy crap, are they dead?!" Shiro shrieked as he looked back.

"Pretty boy, lean right!"

Shiro does so and the hovercraft jumps off the cliffside and onto lower terrain, narrowly missing the walls and more explosions sounded behind them as more rovers crashed.

Allura pressed against Hunk while the vehicle steadied before she spotted a cliff up ahead.

"Guys? Is tha—Is that a cliff up ahead?" She pointed, heart racing.

Shiro blanched, gripped the back of the hovercraft tightly, "Ooooh no! No, no, no—!" The others voiced their fear as well. Yet Katie merely leaned forward with a smirk, revving up the gears and increasing the speed.

" _Yup_."

Everyone screamed as they jumped off the cliff, plummeting towards the ground with increasing speed.

"Are you out of your mind?!" Allura shrieked, "You're going to kill us all!"

"I know what I'm doing!" Katie snapped. The ground was steadily getting closer and closer.

"Pull up!" Hunk screamed.

"Not yet!" Katie felt sweat bead her brow as she kept hold onto the handles while simultaneously easing the throttle.

"What are you waiting for?!" Shiro screamed.

"Shut up and _trust_ me!" The petite girl then pulled the clutch in, shifting gear as the hovercraft's thrusters flipped before hitting the accelerator, shooting off into the wide desert plains, finally escaping the hands of the Garrison.


	2. Chapter 2

©DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN VOLTRON: LEGENDARY DEFENDER! IT IS OWNED BY DREAMWORKS! THIS IS FAN-MADE!

* * *

CHAPTER 2

It was beautiful.

The sight of that large, glowing star had nearly sent him into tears as it peaked over the horizon, dying the sky in an orange hue. He had sunken down to the ground as it steadily lifted higher; watching as the sunbeams kissed the earth in it's radiant glory.

' _Gorgeous_.'

Hugging his knees to his chest, Lance frowned. To think this would be something that he'd miss.

A _sunrise_.

It wasn't until he was trapped in that dark and dank cell, only taken out to fight for his life and go through hell, that he realized just how easy it was to take advantage of the things that come with freedom.

 _A sunrise._

 _Being outdoors._

After waking up in a frenzy at being in an unfamiliar place and stumbling out into the desert after demanding space from unfamiliar people, the only thing that had manage to calm Lance from his panicked mind was the sight of the sun rising as he realized just how _long_ it had been since he had seen anything _remotely_ familiar.

His weary blue eyes slipped away from the view as they landed on his right arm.

Not even his own body was familiar to him anymore...

He squeezed his hand into a fist as he watch the prosthetic move with detached interest. It hasn't been too long that he's had this thing, he was sure – and yet… he couldn't quite remember _how_ he got it…

The sound of footsteps approaching him had him tensing and he quickly turned around, shooting a look in the direction that it came from, only to freeze in surprise as his light colored eyes met dark brown ones staring back at him.

Hunk gave him a weak smile that was empty of any humor as he squatted down next to him, careful and slow. As if afraid to spook him. Lance looked away, fisting his hands at the thought.

"How are you holding up?" Hunk questioned quietly. Lance failed to respond right away, as he shifted his gaze to the sunrise once more, taking the calm it gave him.

"Better than earlier." He mumbled, voice rough. He cleared his throat.

"It's good to have you back." The words made a soft laugh pass through his lips, sounding as hollow as he felt. Despite being physically back on his home planet, he definitely didn't feel as if all of him was back. It felt like his mind was still away and having trouble catching up and coming to terms that...this was all real. That he was finally...home.

"It's good to be back." Lance looked at Hunk from his side view, turning to him slightly with a tired smile.

Hunk smile briefly before his expression fell somber. "What happened to you? Where...where were you?"

Hunk watched as Lance's eyes grew dim, shadowed by a fog that hadn't quite disappeared from them since his awakening.

"Dunno." Lance spoke simply, turning his gaze skyward as he tilted his head back.

"You–" The other man blinked, "You don't _know_?"

"Everything's...fuzzy." Lance elaborated, brows furrowing. "My head feels like a mess and my memories are... _scrambled_. I was on an alien ship and _somehow_ I escaped…" A thought occurred to him as he turned to Hunk.

"But what about you? _You_ saved me right?" A nod. "How did you know where to find me?"

Hunk rubbed at the back of his neck, exhaling roughly. He tossed at glance at the cabin in the distance before looking back at Lance with heavy eyes.

"It was more of a string of luck, to be honest." He spoke, "A chick named Katie found you but she was looking for her brother or something."

"Brother?"

"He was part of your crew." Hunk furrowed his eyebrows. "The graduate that was with you and the professor."

Lance's eyes widened as he suddenly recalled auburn hair and warm honey eyes in a flash of a memory.

"Matt."

"Huh?"

" _Matt_."

"Lance?"

 _ **Matt**_.

"Lance?"

Hunk watched in startle as a few tears suddenly spilled from Lance's wide eyes, which seemed to be staring right through him rather than at him.

"Lance?" He called again, "Dude?" He reached to shake him but Lance blinked into awareness before he could touch him. The lanky man lifted a hand to his head, messing up his bangs as he tangled his fingers in them.

" _Shit_."

Woah. Hunk retracted his hand. Lance didn't curse. He _never_ cursed.

"I almost forgot about him." Lance muttered out quickly, his voice wavering. "Why can't I...remember him?"

Hunk stared at the other man sitting before him, looking as lost as he felt. He could endure Lance's shaken expression for only mere moments, before he frowned, jaw set.

"We should head back inside."

The sentence was unhelpful to his situation but proved to be a decent distraction from his current crisis over his fractured memory, and so Lance stood to follow Hunk, whom was already rising to his feet. Once inside the cabin, however, Lance was forced to acknowledge his earlier behavior and panic.

He cast his eyes down as he rubbed his arm, glancing up at the people in it.

"I'm sorry about earlier." He apologized after clearing his throat. "I was not...thinking straight." He winced.

They're gonna think he's a looney, crazy, unsta –

"It's fine, Lance."

The brunette blinked in startle at the smooth baritone voice that filtered through the small room that said his name. Aside from Hunk and himself of course, his light colored eyes fell on the only other male in the room who sat on the armrest of the couch next to a girl with short white hair, looking in his direction with a small smile.

"You've been through…" The man paused, looking thoughtful, "... a lot. No one is going to blame you for freaking out a bit."

Something warm bloomed in his chest as the man tossed him another tentative smile and he gave one of his own in return, expression grateful.

"Thank you." Lance murmured. It seemed as if the man's expression brightened at the acknowledgement and Lance could've sworn he saw his face color a light pink but it was gone before he knew it.

"First time I've heard you so considerate, Shiro." Hunk spoke up, making Lance look at him. Hunk's expression was dry as a bean as he stared at the other man with a raised brow.

"Oh shut _up_." Shiro – _so his name's Shiro? Good to note_ – rolled his eyes as he said this.

Lance looked between the two, quickly growing lost as they fell into banter. The girl near Shiro offered him a smile as she waved him over. Lance crept over to her and sat on the other side of the couch, body tense once more. Now that he was up close to her, he realized that this girl was...freaking _beautiful_.

It's been who-knows-how-long since he's seen someone so attractive, let alone someone attractive that was his own species. Let's just say he was more than a little intimidated.

"Don't worry." She smiled. "They're always like that." She stuck her hand out, and Lance glanced down at it briefly, "I'm Allura." She said.

With his cheeks burning, Lance shook her hand awkwardly, "Lance." He introduced himself, "Lance McClain." He quickly pulled his hand away and crossed his arms. He felt his leg bounce as his nerves continued to bundle.

"So…" He started, "...they're really always like this?" He pointed to the two pouting men before them, refusing to look at one another.

Allura fingered her white locks gently, tossing the two a flat look. "Unfortunately." Allura paused, looking at him with a pensive expression. It took Lance a second to notice, however, how her eye kept flicking from his own to something else higher.

"Um..." She trailed. "Your... _hair_."

His hair? What about…

Confusion quickly turned into dread as he realized what she was most likely staring at. He held himself back from reaching up to touch the white bangs in the front.

"...Yeah?" He mumbled.

"It's so _fascinating_." Her words took him by surprise. "Is that your actual color?"

Lance stared at her in silence for a moment before letting out a huff of a laugh. He smiled slightly, "Yes and no?" He replied, watching as confusion sparkled in her blue eyes. He finally reached up to touched the white forelock, "I'm pretty sure that it used to be brown like the rest of my hair."

He saw that Hunk and Shiro were looking in their direction now, though Hunk's eyes stared at him doefully as he said this. Lance sighed, letting go of his hair. "Though it's white down to the root, so I'm sure it's natural." His lips quirked up in a small grin, "Anyways, don't sell yourself short; you've got some pretty fascinating hair yourself."

"Oh!" Allura flushed. "Thank you!" She went to grab something on her shoulder, it seemed, before pausing and squeezing her hands into fists and setting them on her sternum.

"Did you just cut it?" Lance inquired. Allura looked up in surprise, causing her short curls to swing with her face. "You looked like you were trying to grab it just now."

She beamed, "Yes actually! You're very attentive, you know?"

Lance shrugged, feeling flustered once more. "The bob suits you." He muttered. Allura continued to smile at him as Shiro snickered.

"Someone's smooth." He teased.

Lance tossed him an withered look, making Shiro smile at him but not reply. Hunk suddenly sighed roughly as he looked around,

"Geez, what's taking so long?" He wondered aloud, "When is she –"

Before he could finish his sentence, the door abruptly slammed open, causing them to shriek in startle. A single foot could be seen sticking out from the other side, prior to a leg stepping through as Katie walked in, her arms full of papers. They watched in silence as she walked over to a wall that had a piece of fabric draped across it, setting the papers down on a nearby coffee table.

Dusting her hands off, Katie turned around to face the audience behind her, her hazel irises locking onto Lance.

"You're looking better." She commented. "Lance right?" A nod. "I have but one question." She folded her arms as she leaned back against the wall. Lance's chest felt tight as he took in her dreary and tired eyes behind silver frames.

"Your crew members. Did anyone else make it out besides you?"

"I don't know." He said. "I remember being on a ship and being captured but after that...it's all a blur."

Katie stared at him quietly for a few moments before sighing, her expression pinching a bit as she switched her eyes to the ground.

"I'm sorry." He felt compelled to say it. To say _something_ to try and get that look off her face. She looked up at him and a flicker of a smile ghosted her features, though it disappeared with her next words.

"No…" She said, tilting her head to the side as her thick brows furrowed. "...it's not your fault." She held her temple in her fingerstips. "However, seeing you is enough to give me hope that he's out there too."

"Hey Katie." Hunk spoke. "That thing you showed me last night. You mind pulling it out?"

Katie looked at him in suspicion. "For what?"

He gave her a deadpan look, "Since you've shown me it, I've been thinking about it. I'd like to see it again to confirm some theories I have."

She looked him up and down, then turned her eyes onto Lance briefly before her hazel orbs settled on Hunk once more.

"Fine." She relented and turned around, pulling down the cloth covering the wall, revealing a board covered in a mess of notes, papers, clippings, diagrams, as well as the map in the center of it all marked in several places.

Aside from Hunk, everyone stared in varying degrees of confusion and bewilderment. The large man walked over to where she stood and stared at the board in silent contemplation, chin in hand.

"Well?" She said. He didn't answer.

"What…" Shiro started, uncertain, "... _is_ all this?"

Katie tossed him a look from the corner of her eyes before turning around to face them.

"It's my research." She said simply. Shiro gave a unimpressed look, rolling his wrist in a ' _go-on_ ' motion. Katie turned her eyes up briefly, forming her thoughts.

"It's… a project." She started carefully. "Before getting booted from the Garrison, I was looking into the cause of the Kerberos mission failure." She looked back at the board, adjusting her glasses. "Because things just weren't adding up."

Shiro looked at Allura and saw her staring at Katie with wide eyes. He set his jaw, "We understand that now." He told, "But what _exactly_ wasn't adding up?"

"Like how they said it was a pilot error when there was no actual evidence of a crash anywhere on Kerberos." She offered. She watched as Hunk quickly went over to his bag and began pulling out his notes and writing something.

"When I hacked into the system at the Garrison, I looked into Iverson's video feeds from his probes. There was _literally_ nothing to report. No crash, no nothing." She shook her head, "But the prick found out about it and kicked me out for treason."

"Guess it wasn't disciplinary issues." Hunk mumbled, half listening, "You were right Allura." Katie deflated, her expression annoyed,

"Is that really what their using as an excuse?" She hissed. "That I had a _discipline_ problem?

At the collective confirmation she received, Katie muttered something foul and turned back to the board.

" _Anyway._ " She continued, voice agitated. " Since I was cut from my main source of info, I didn't know what to do. I couldn't go home – I don't live _anywhere_ near here and I needed to stay close."

' _Besides, her mother would kill her_.' the thought caused her anger to simmer a bit.

"I was lost for awhile." She touched the map, "I didn't know what to do. Who to tell. But...then I found myself drawn to this place. It's like something... some energy, was telling me to search."

"For what?" Shiro inquired.

"Well, I didn't really know at the time... until I stumbled across this area." Her hand moved over the center of the map, where it was circled and marked, ' _ENERGY SOURCE_ ' in big bold letters. "It's an outcropping of giant boulders with caves covered in these ancient markings. Each one tells a slightly different story about a blue lion, but they all share clues leading to some event, some arrival happening last night." Katie turned away from the board, looking directly at Lance.

"Then you showed up."

"M-Me?" Lance stammered. He opened his mouth to say more but was interrupted by Allura,

"However, it seems there's more than just your arrival we need to be concerned about." She broke in, looking at Lance with worried eyes. "Before, you had mentioned _aliens_."

Shiro slammed his fist into his palm. "Right!" He gasped, he leaned over Allura's shoulder, whom frowned in mild annoyance at his weight but supported him nonetheless. "Where are they now? Are they coming? Are they coming for all of us? Like where are they at this very moment?"

Light blue eyes flickered between the two of them and Katie as they all stared at Lance in expectancy.

"I…" He paused, searching through his swiss cheese of a memory bank. It proved fruitless as he still drew up blanks. "...I don't know. It's all just bits and pieces." His brows drew together, pinching as he tried to think. "I-I remember the words, 'Voltron'. It's some kind of weapon, I think. They're looking for it but I don't know why." He looked at the three of them with grave eyes.

"Whatever it is, I think we need to find it before they do."

"You're right about that." Hunk suddenly spoke up. "Last night, after you showed me this Katie, I thought something about it was weird. So I took the numbers and arranged them into a chart by order and date and noticed that a large chunk of them were repeating." He pulled up one of the papers he was writing on and then opened his small journal to a specific page.

"So after stewing it over for a while, I also realized that I've seen these numbers before in my notes and I _also_ realized that the repeating series of numbers the aliens are searching for looks a lot like a fraunhofer line."

"Frown-what?" Katie echoed, perplexed.

Hunk set his book down, "It's a number describing the emission spectrum of an element, only this element doesn't exist on Earth. I thought it might be this Voltron, and I think I can build a machine to look for it, kinda like a Voltron Geiger Counter."

Katie blinked, looking honestly surprised, "Huh. You're actually a genius."

The agitated look Hunk gave her flew over her head and he sighed, "Your rude comments aside." He flipped through his papers and pulled out a graph, "It's pretty fascinating, really. The wavelength looks like this."

Katie's eyes widened, "Pass that!" she quickly snatched the graph from Hunk's hands, and searched her board for a specific photo. Once spotting it, she held up the graph under it and saw that it matched up in appearance.

"Hey Hunk." She spoke up. "Get started on that device, will ya? I think we have a lead."

 ***.*.***

It was too damn _hot_. The thought passed through his mind in mild annoyance as Shiro wiped sweat from his brow. The desert sun was beaming down from high in the sky as they walked through the mess of sand and boulders, following behind Katie and Hunk.

Lance, Allura, and Shiro all shared wary looks as they came to a stop, finding the spot of boulders in Katie's picture.

"Okay." Shiro spoke, arms crossed. "Not gonna lie, this is a bit freaky."

Hunk marched forward in a direction, staring at the screen of the device he held. "I'm getting a reading. Come on."

They weaved through multiple overhangs and crammed through slim places, barely avoiding a slip here and there. The needle in the screen suddenly began to spin out of control and Hunk ran in the direction it detected, Katie yelping as she was pulled along by the cord, seeing as she carried the bulk of the machine.

The large man slowed to a stop some distance away, at the mouth of a cave. Hunk passed through, staring in awe at the markings that littered the inside.

"Wait damn it!" Katie snapped as she stumbled next to him. She panted, sending him an annoyed look before she took a look around the inside and stood speechless. Not long after, did Lance, Shiro and Allura catch up, panting and out of breath.

"Warnings would be appreciated." Allura huffed as she stood straight. She was surprised at the lack of reply and looked at the two prodigies in front of her.

"What is it?" She walked over to them, peeking over Katie's shoulder and blinked in surprise at the markings carved into the wall, though most of it was eroded away from the elements.

"There's more further in." Hunk commented, glancing down at the device, which was still spinning erratically. "This way."

The five of them continued to gawk and stare as they traveled further into the cave, more and more carvings appearing – on the walls, on the floor, on the ceiling – until they were surrounded by the ancient text and drawings.

"What _are_ these?" Lance pondered aloud.

"These are the lion carvings I was talking about." Katie answered, watching as Shiro walked over to a wall full of some in particular. "They're everywhere around here."

Shiro squinted, trying to make out the details of one of the pictures before he lifted a hand to the wall, rubbing away the dust and dirt. He was startled as the markings suddenly lit up a brilliant blue under his palm.

"Woah!" He gasped, snatching his hand away and stepping back. Katie stared at him with wide eyes. "They've never done that before…"

The ground beneath their feet suddenly broke out into cracks prior to collapsing under them and they fell into stream of rushing water, panicked screams echoing throughout the caves as they were pulled along until they flew off a ledge leading into a cavern of water.

Shiro moaned in pain as he pushed himself up from the ground with shaky arms, coughing. He rubbed his eyes, looking up and felt his breath catch in his throat.

"They really _are_ everywhere…"

The sight of a giant blue mechanical lion had him speechless as he stood. He slowly took a step forward towards it, yet felt a tug on his shirt, making him stop. He turned back to find Allura staring past him with wide eyes.

"Is this it?" Allura murmured, taken aback. "Is this...the Voltron?"

"It-it must be." Lance stuttered as he staggered to his feet. Katie stood and walked ahead, "This is what was causing all this crazy energy."

The sheer enormity of the beast was thrown upon her as she realized just how far away they fell from it, yet she could almost see it in detail from behind the barrier that seemed to be protecting it. She heard footsteps follow up behind her.

"Anyone else feel like it's eyes are following them?" Shiro questioned uneasily as he changed his walk pattern, yet still felt it's steely yellow gaze following his movement.

Lance considered his question, before frowning "No." He replied.

Shiro continued to shift, "It's definitely staring at me." He muttered, feeling creeped out before jogging to catch up with Katie, whom now had her hands on the barrier, mumbling on how to enter.

"Have you tried knocking?" Shiro joked, grinning at her flat look as he rapped his knuckles against the barrier. He didn't expect for it react, however, and he watched in surprise as the barrier began to dissipate and the area around them lit up in blue energy.

A gasp left Shiro as an image flashed across his mind's eye:

 _Five individual lions of different colors coming together to form as one large mecha, it's golden eyes piercing the darkness that surrounded it as they opened._

Shiro stumbled, finding his footing as he was once again aware. "Did anyone-" He paused, trying to come to terms with what he just saw. "Did anyone else see that?"

"Voltron's a _robot!_ " Allura squealed, amazement clouding her features. "Voltron is a huge, huge _awesome_ robot!"

Hunk let out a breathe in disbelief, "And this thing is only one _part_ of it! I wonder where the rest of them are..."

"This is what they're looking for." Lance deduced while Katie adjusted her glasses, "Incredible." She murmured.

Suddenly the lion sprung to life, moving onto all fours and falling into a crouch as it dipped it's head low, it's jaw touching the ground before them. There was the sound of steam releasing as the lion's mouth opened, a ramp unfolding in Shiro's path.

After getting over the initial shock of this thing freaking _moving_ , Shiro grinned and eagerly boarded the lion. He eventually found the cockpit and took a seat in the chair, looking around for the controls. The seat suddenly jolted forward and Shiro let out a startle scream, then a pained groan from his gut being flung into the dashboard edge. He rubbed it absentmindedly as he watched the control panel flicker to life.

Shiro giggled gleefully as the others stepped into the room, watching as the man wiggled his fingers in anticipation. Allura catches his wrist gently, grabbing his attention.

"Okay. Let's take a step back a-and realize something." she announced anxiously, "J-Just so that we're all, y'know, aware: We are in some kind of futuristic _alien cat head_ right now."

Shiro raises a brow in amusement before he heard a deep rumbling in his mind.

"Did you guys hear that?" He asked. Katie squinted at him, "Hear _what_?"

Shiro looked back at the control panel thoughtfully. "I-I think it's talking to me?" He muttered as he reached out, pressing a couple buttons. The five of them were surprised to feel the lion rise from the ground, standing and roaring. Lance, Allura, Katie and Hunk held onto different parts of ship respectively to keep them steady.

Shiro smirked as he gripped the controls sticks on either side of him. "Okay, I-I think I got this!" He pushed them forward.

The Lion bolted off from the ground and smashed through the cavern walls, taking off and soaring through the sky, doing somersaults and maneuvers in the air. Terrified screams chorused throughout the cockpit and Shiro sat in vexation as Allura and Hunk held onto him for dear life.

" _YOU_ _ARE_. _THE_ _**WORST**_." Katie screamed as she fell into Lance, who caught her and held tight, " _PILOT_. _**EVER**_ !" The lion did another flip before blasting through the clouds causing them all to slam back from the force.

" _What_ in the Sam Hill is _that_?" Iverson gawked as he and a guard watched the Lion fly over the Galaxy Garrison. The guard next to him, lowered his binoculars.

"It appears to be a flying blue _lion_ , sir." He replied and Iverson looked at him flatly.

The blue Lion landed and ran along the desert at high speed. Shiro watched through the monitor, glowing with excitement as a huge smile split his face.

"This is freaking _awesome_!" He cheered.

" _No_ it is _not_!" Allura cried as felt her stomach swish with nausea. " _Please_ make it _stop_!"

"I'm not making it do _anything_." Shiro explained, " It's like it's on autopilot!" The blue Lion took off into the sky.

"Where are you going?!" Katie snapped.

"I just _said_ it's on autopilot!" Shiro repeated, staring out into the mass of clouds. "It says there's an alien ship approaching Earth. I-I think we're supposed to stop it."

"What did it _say_ , exactly?!" Hunk demanded, frazzled.

Shiro looked at him unimpressed, "Well, it's not like it's saying _words_ , more like feeding ideas into my brain." He paused, "Kind of."

"Well, if this thing is the weapon they're coming for, why don't we just – I don't know, _give_ it to them?" Allura suggested, feeling queasy, "Maybe they'll leave us alone. Sorry, Lion, nothing personal."

Katie blinked in surprised as she felt Lance tense, his arm wrapping around her tighter. She looked up to find him frowning grimly. "You don't understand." He said, "These monsters have spread like wildfire throughout the galaxy, destroying everything in their path. There's no bargaining with them. T-They won't _stop_ until everything is _dead_."

Allura blinked, taken back by Lance's harsh tone. "Oh...nevermind then."

The blue Lion leaves the Earth's atmosphere, causing Katie to panic. "A-Are we in _space_?!" She shrieked. "Oh my god, what if we _fall out_?! We don't have any space suits!"

Hunk paled, "We're gonna die." Panic quickly bubbled in him, "Oh sweet swiss rolls, _we are going to die!"_

"We are _not_ going to die!" Shiro snapped. He exhaled, leaning back against the seat as he tried to relax his tense muscles. "Look, so long as we're inside this lion, we're fine okay? It's not going to let us fall out. We're not gonna die." Just as he said that, an impossibly large warship suddenly appears and everyone gasps.

"Okay so we might die." Shiro spoke as he stared in fear at the large ship. He quickly pushed the blue Lion to fly past it, heart pounding in his ears.

"Was that an _alien ship_?" Allura wheezed, fear locking her in place as she squeezed Shiro's chair in a death grip.

Lance stumbled, letting go of Katie as his back hit the wall. "They found me." He breathed, panic mounting in his eyes. Hunk stared at him worriedly, reaching out for his shoulder. "Hey no –" Hunk was cut off as the lion shook. The ship suddenly open fire and a mass of laser beams shot out towards them.

"Shiro get us out of here!" Katie demanded and the raven-haired male pulled on the control sticks, "Hang on!" He exclaimed and proceeded to do his best to avoid the lasers, ducking and weaving through them all as he tried to get away.

"I think I know what to do!" Shiro announced suddenly, and Hunk gave him a distressed look at those words.

"Be _careful_ man! This isn't a simulator!"

A smirk passed over Shiro's lips, "Great." He said, "Cuz' I always wrecked the simulator."

Hunk tapped Shiro over the back of the head, not finding his joke funny at all. "Focus!" He snapped.

Shiro ignored him, choosing to push a couple buttons which caused the Lion's mouth to open and a cannon unveiling itself from within it. A bright beam shot out, blasting along the length of the warship, resulting in explosions.

"Let's try _this_." Shiro flew the Lion in close and used its claws to tear into the warship's side. He quickly flew away as more explosions errupted.

"Nice Shiro!" Allura cheered. Lance blinked rapidly as he finally managed to get a grip on himself, and he straightened,

"OK," He spoke, "I think it's time to get these guys away from our planet."

Inside the warship, a commander alien stood at attention as they spoke through a video transmission

"Lord Zarkon, the escaped prisoner and his people found the Lion. It attacked us and is heading out of the system."

Zarkon's voice traveled through the feed, dark and angry. "Follow that Lion and alert all ships in the area to intercept. Capturing that Lion is your _first_ and _only_ priority." He demanded.

The commanding officer bowed, "Yes, your Majesty." The video feed cut off and he growled. "Full power after the Lion!" The ship turned-tail and began to following after the blue Lion.

"Aw _crap_!" Hunk cursed, watching the ship quickly approaching them on the monitor feed. "They're gaining on us!" Katie worried, making Shiro frown anxiously.

"It's weird. They're not trying to shoot us. Th-They're just _chasing_." He observed.

"And that's good news _how_ exactly?" She scoffed. Allura pulled on Shiro's chair. "Where are we?" She asked, looking around.

Lance looked out the window in question, surprised at his discovery. "We're at the edge of the solar system. There's Kerberos." He pointed to the large pale satellite near them. Allura gaped, "B-But it takes _months_ for our ships to get out this far. We got out here in _five seconds!_ "

Suddenly a large portal of spinning darkness and pressurized air appeared before them.

"What is _that_?!" Hunk gasped.

"Please don't let it be a black hole." Allura squeaked.

Shiro stared at the readings on his monitor, "A portal? _No —_ a wormhole?" Once more, Shiro heard the rumbling in the back of his mind and he frowned. "Uh, this may seem crazy, but I think the Lion wants us to go through there."

"W-Where does it go?" Hunk asked Shiro, eyes uneasy. Shiro blinked, unsure. "I-I don't know." He turned back in his seat, looking up at a startled Lance, "Lance, you're the senior officer here. What should we do?"

The brunette paused, taking in the four pairs of eyes staring at him in varying degrees of expectancy and wonder. He straightened his shoulders and stared at the wormhole through the monitor.

"Whatever's happening here, the Lion clearly knows more than we do." He said firmly, "I say we trust it, but we're a team now. We should decide together."

They all shared looks with one another in silence and the answer became clear when no one objected. Shiro sighed,

"... All right. Guess we're all ditching class tomorrow."

He pushed the controls forwards and flew the blue Lion into the wormhole, all of them tense and filled with dread at the unexpected; the portal just managed to close behind them in time before the warship could follow them through.

It's fair to be said that going through the wormhole was quite similar to the turbulence of an airplane.

Except a lot more unstable.

But unlike the turbulence of a plane, it was over before they knew it; the shaking and pressure had stopped and they had been dumped in a completely different sector of the universe.

The bulky man sat in silent awe, chest heaving as he took in the stars and planets that surrounded them as he tried to process what exactly _just happened_. His thoughts were interrupted at the sound of heaving to his left and he wince in sympathy,

" _I'm so sorry_." Allura croaked quietly, only to gag once more. Shiro sighed as Hunk rose a brow.

"Honestly, I'm more surprised that she held out for so long." The large man commented in his ear quietly. Shiro gave him a deadpan look. "Hunk, there's some ginger candy in my pouch. Take a few out and pass her some please?"

Shiro felt the other man reach in as Lance spoke up hesitantly.

"I don't...recognize _any_ of these constellations. We must be a long, long way from Earth." Silence ruled over the cockpit after this was said, the realization over the fact that they just left their home planet sinking in.

The blue Lion gently cruised along through space as Shiro let go of the controls, letting out a heavy exhale as he leaned back into his seat.

"Great." Katie murmured, adjusting her glasses. "What are we gonna do now?"

A window suddenly opened over the screen and Shiro tapped it. The viewfinder opened up with the feed of a blue planet in the distance, not looking too dissimilar to Earth.

Shiro's brow knotted, "The Lion seems to want to go to this planet. I think…" He blinked, "...I think it's going home."

With a low rumble, the blue Lion took off towards the planet, soon entering its atmosphere, causing them to huddle closer together from the intensity of the shaking.

"Personal space!" Shiro insisted, though there wasn't much that they could do about it.

"Um, is it just me or is anyone else having second thoughts about flying through a mysterious Wormhole?" Katie hissed, as the Lion soared through the clouds. "Why are we listening to a robotic lion anyway?"

For some strange reason, Shiro felt the need to defend the lion, feeling agitation crawl up his spine. "It got us away from that alien warship, didn't it?" He snapped.

"I don't know if you noticed," Hunk butted in, "but we're _in_ an alien warship."

One thick brow rose in mockery, a smirk over coming Shiro's face. "Oh, are you _scared_?" He mocked dryly.

"With _you_ at the controls?" Hunk sneered, " _Terrified._ "

"Knock it _off_ , you two." Lance cut in. "No one's happy to be in this situation but we're in it and there nothing we can do but keep moving forward. If we wanna make it out alive, we have to do this together."

"Then what do we do?" Allura inquired weakly. Lance's eyes softened,

"First, we figure out where we're heading. Shiro?" He looked at the beefy man, who sat in silence.

"Shiro?"

"I...don't know." The other finally answered. "I'm sorry, the Lion's not talking to me anymore." Suddenly his face pinched in concentration, "Wait, wait, wait! Shh! Listen. I think I hear something." A high-pitched squeal sound was heard, growing steadily in volume.

"I'm hearing it too." Katie nodded.

Allura tilted her head in consideration, "It's, uh – It's kind of a – a high-pitched squeal?" However, the noise soon turn into a familiar sound as a devilish grin took over Shiro's face and a chorus of groans and complaints erupted.

"Shiro!" Allura chastised, covering her nose along with the others. "You _farted_!"

"That's nasty bro!" Hunk fanned the air in exaggeration, making Shiro rolled his eyes.

"Excuse me." He said, "But seriously, there's a Castle up ahead."

Eyes turned to look at the monitor and noises of of awe and amazement sounded as they approached the large, white castle embedded into the summit of a mountain. The Lion slowly descended down to the surface and stopped in front of the larges doors.

"What are the chances there's oxygen we can breathe here?" Katie spoke up suddenly, causing Hunk to panic at the thought, "Katie!" He admonished, chagrined.

"What?" She shrugged, feeling attacked, "It's a genuine _concern_!"

"I'd say our chances are pretty high." Shiro informed as he read over the air pressure and oxygen levels on his control panel. "It's pretty similar to Earth, though a bit thinner from what I can see. Shouldn't be too bad." A collective breath was released.

"Keep your guard up." Lance ordered suddenly.

"Is something wrong?" Allura questioned. Her blue eyes sent a string of familiarity through him and he squeezed his hands into a fist. "My crew was captured by aliens once. I'm not going to let it happen again."

They carefully exit the Lion, wary of their surroundings but were startled horribly as the Lion suddenly rose to its feet. It let out a deafening roar and the castle doors responded in turn, lighting up brilliantly before the doors opened with a cloud of dust in its path. The five of them stood speechless as Allura peeked out from behind Lance,

"The doors…" Allura breathed, surprised, "... _opened_."


	3. Chapter 3

©DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN VOLTRON: LEGENDARY DEFENDER! IT IS OWNED BY DREAMWORKS! THIS IS FAN-MADE!

* * *

CHAPTER 3

It was unexpectedly dark inside the castle as the five of them walked inside. The walls were far and yards aparts while the ceiling seemed to go on forever. They walked carefully throughout the main floor, silent and nervous as they took in what they could see in such low lighting, scouting the immediate area for any signs of life.

Therefore, it was pretty fair for everyone to be reasonably startled when Allura called out a sudden, questioning " _hello_ " into the darkness.

" _Really_?!" Shiro hissed, throwing his hands out in exasperation as he tried to calm his racing pulse. Allura shrugged in response, as if that would answer for her actions.

Hunk sighed as he shook his head before turning his gaze to the side, taking in the vast staircase that stretched on before them.

"You know, for the size of the Lion, I expected these steps to be bigger." He spoke, head tilting as he considered it.

A light overhead flickered to life, causing them to gasp in surprise as it encased over them while the floor beneath their feet lit up vibrantly.

" _ **Please hold. Identifying life forms**_." A voice spoke out, sounding not too dissimilar to Siri. A scanning system rose up from their feet and traveled over them. Lance frowned as he looked up,

"Why are we here?" He called out, "What do you want with us?"

The scan ended and the crystals on the walls turned on, reminiscent of a torch in the manner that they lit up. The lights glowed, illuminating along the staircase and into a hall directly in front of them.

"I guess we're going that way…" Hunk sighed out.

They traveled throughout the castle, hallway after hallway, the lights continuing to turn on one after the other as it directed the way. The way to where? No one had the slightest idea but they followed regardless, hoping to get some answers to this wild goose chase.

Eventually, they all arrived to a set of large doors that glowed and opened. Inside the room seemed like something out of a sci-fi movie.

"Where _are_ we?" Shiro muttered as they dispersed to scout the room. Allura looked over to the side, watching as a podium turned on, blue symbols appearing.

"I think it's… a control room?" She replied in surprise.

A sudden noise had her squeaking as she turned around sharply to find the others staring warily as two columns rose out of the floor one after the other, fog clouding the area in their wake. Upon closer inspection, she realized that they weren't _columns_ but instead what appeared to be pods, hosting a human-like silhouette inside each.

She hid behind Hunk as she gaped, "Are these guys... _dead_?"

Before anyone could process it, the glass front on one of the pods dissolved, revealing a young man dressed up in strange attire. They all gawked, watching as his peaceful expression pinched before he jumped awake with a gasp.

" _Mother_!" He croaked out, frantically reaching out in front of him as he dove out the pod. Though his legs collapsed beneath him and his eyes slipped shut once more.

Shiro happened to be the closest to the pods and leaped forward to catch the other man before he could hit the ground, grunting as the solid weight nearly brought him to his knees. He quickly checked over the other man for any sign of injury.

"Is...Is he okay?" Hunk spoke up hesitantly. Shiro glanced at the others before turning back to the male in his arms.

"He doesn't seem to have any physical injury nor does he look to be in pain…" Shiro informed. Suddenly the man in his arms shifted with a small groan and Shiro watched as his eyes cracked open once more before looking up at him.

' _Woah…_ ' Shiro's own eyes widened in surprise, blush coloring his face. ' _His eyes are so pretty…_ ' The violet orbs blinked dazedly before thick, dark brows pulled down in confusion.

"Uh…" Shiro blanked, watching as awareness seeped back into the other's face. He distantly heard the sound of the second pod opening. "Hi...?"

"Who are you?" The guy questioned as he struggled to gather his bearings, "Where am I?"

"The name's Shiro." Cut him some slack, he couldn't help it. Alien or not, there was a gorgeous dude holding him, how could he _not_ flirt?

"And you're right here in my arms."

" _Enemy combatant_!"

Shiro saw his life flash before his eyes as he was suddenly tackled, pinned with his arms twisted behind his back. He shouted in pain as he heard Allura and Hunk call out for him in worry.

"How dare you touch the prince." A deep voice growled in his ear and put further pressure to his joints and Shiro hissed at the ache. "What are you doing in this castle? Where have you come from?"

"A giant blue lion brought us here, that's all we know!" Shiro cried out. The hands suddenly let go of him and his arms fell to his sides with relief before he quickly scampered away and rose to his feet, backing up to stand with the others. In front of them, stood a tall dark skinned man with white fluffy hair and blue and red markings over his face, scowling at them. By his side, the young man spoke up, looking equally displeased.

"Why do you have the Blue Lion? What happened to it's Paladin?!" He demanded, "What are you all doing here? Unless..." His eyes widened, realization clouding his face as he shared an alarmed look with the other man.

"How long as it _been_?" He inquired as he turned back to the group.

Lance stepped forward, hands raised in a placating manner. He knew how it felt to wake up in panic, unsure of your surroundings. "We don't know what you're talking about." He started gently, "Why don't you tell us who you are? Maybe we can help."

"I am Prince Keith and this is my advisor, Kolivan." Keith introduced. "We come from planet Altea."

Keith strode forward, past Katie to the control system, placing his palms flat against it. Immediately it glowed, turning on and projecting a holo screen in front of him.

"I need to figure out where we are and how long we have been asleep…" He snapped, tone betraying how rattled he was.

They observed as he began typing, focused on the screen before him. Hunk noticed Shiro cradleling one of his arms absentmindedly. As much as he wanted to know how the tech in this place worked, he found himself sliding over to him.

"Hey…" he gently bumped Shiro's other arm with his elbow, "You okay?" This drew the attention of the others as they turned away from Keith and looked at the two of them. Shiro blinked before realizing what he was doing.

"Uh-"

"Are you injured?"

Shiro jumped as he heard the voice of Kolivan behind him once more. He whipped around to find the larger man's arms crossed, golden eyes staring down at him although his gaze was less irritated than before. It took Shiro a moment to register that the question had been directed at _him_ and he stumbled over his words trying to answer,

"Uh, I uh-um...no?" He replied, his voice trailing off into a question. Kolivan's eyes narrowed, observing the smaller male, not buying his response.

"I apologize." He said after a moment. "I may be Keith's advisor but his safety is my top priority. You are unfamiliar and held the prince in your grasp, so I assumed the worst."

Unfamiliar? Okay, a stranger. He can get that. Stranger touching your basically-family? He can totally get behind that. At least he apologized.

Shiro lifted a brow, slightly amused by Kolivan's manner of speech. "Hey no, it's fine. I understand completely."

"So you are uninjured?" Kolivan questioned with a head tilt, blinking slowly. Pff, that was kind of adorable. Yeah, he doesn't really mind this guy anymore. He reminded Shiro of a big ol' grumpy cat. He bit his cheek to keep from smiling at his thoughts, nodding. "I'm a bit sore but I'll be fine." Hell he hoped he'd be fine.

"Again, I apologize. Especially if you are to be who I think you will…" Kolivan trailed off, eyes traveling to Keith. Shiro blinked in confusion but failed to voice it as Keith slammed his hands against the panel.

"It can't be!" He growled out weakly.

"The results?" Kolivan encouraged gently. Keith gritted his teeth, eyes glaring at the screen's text.

"We've been asleep for _ten thousand_ years!" His voice wavered as he said this and the memory of his last moments awake flashed over his mind's eye,

 _There was smoke everywhere outside the ship as the cities below were blown away to smithereens. Keith watched in horror, feeling helpless and_ _ **useless**_ _. Zarkon appeared over the main monitor,_

" _Zarkon." His mother hissed. She stood tall at the bridge, hands clenching the control pads._

" _Your fleet has been destroyed Krolia." Zarkon mocked, cold and harsh. "I will be there shortly to claim Voltron." With that as his parting, Zarkon's ship let out a beam at the castle. It rumbled and shook from the force of it and Keith held onto something to steady himself until it stopped._

" _Mother!" He called out, "We need to form Voltron and fight before it's too late!"_

 _He watched as she gritted her teeth, face pinching in anger before she closed her eyes and exhaled roughly._ _"It's already too late." She spoke, straightening up. "We need to send the lions away."_

" _What?!" Keith took a step forward but the ship shook violently once more and he stumbled back. Kolivan reached out and steadied him._

" _We_ _ **cannot**_ _risk them falling into Zarkon's hands." Krolia snapped in returned._

" _We can't just give up hope!" Keith pleaded desperately as his mother stepped off the control panel, walking towards him with an unreadable expression._

" _I'm sorry, Keithor." She reached up and cupped his face gently. Keith hated how she used his full name, feeling the weight of the situation from it alone._

" _Mother-_

" _If all goes well, I will see you again soon." Suddenly Keith felt a sharp spark against his neck and his senses immediately began to dull. He watched as his world tilted and blurred, legs giving out as something warm and sturdy caught him from behind._

" _Kolivan, please take care of him."_

" _Of course, your majesty."_

 _No...no, no, no…_

 _He can't sleep now...there was...too much at stake! Keith reached out weakly, barely having any more strength left in his arm as he stared at his mother. She gave him a soft smile, her eyes sad,_

" _Mother…" He whispered, eyes closing as he slipped into the dark void. His mother's voice being the last thing he heard._

" _I love you."_

His fists trembled on the control panel as he recounted the memory.

"Planet Altea and all of the planets in our solar system have been destroyed." Keith continued, voice breaking slightly, "My mother is _gone_ , Kolivan. Our entire civilization…"

The heavy feeling in his chest overwhelmed him as he thought of everything that was now lost before hot, boiling anger took place, " _Zarkon_." He spat out venomously. Lance's breath caught in his throat as a face flashed in his mind.

"Zarkon?" He echoed. Keith turned around to face them all, eyes ablaze.

"He was King to the Galra. A vile creature and enemy to all free people." he hissed. Lance closed his eyes, trying to calm his pulse as the memories slowly trickled in,

"I remember now…" He admitted, "I was his prisoner."

Keith gaped, "He's still alive?" he shook his head, "Impossible!"

Lance frowned, expression dark, "I can't explain it, but it's true. He's searching for a super weapon called, Voltron."

"He's searching for it because he knows that it's the only thing that can stop him..." His eyes narrowed, "...and that's _exactly_ why we need to find it before he does."

 ***.*.***

Far, far across the universe from the castle was a ship. A woman was knelt over a magic circle inscribed into the flooring that glowed eerily, her palms flat against it. Multiple crystals hovered around her in the air as they pulse threateningly, magic channeling throughout each one as an eerie violet light encompassed the whole room.

It was then that she felt it. The feeling of magic drumming through her core as she sensed it.

 _Finally_ …

She made sure that she had a lock on the energy signature before rising to her feet carefully. The crystals gradually powered down one by one, slowly descending to the ground. They were no longer a vibrant purple— now a solid black, reflecting in the room's gentle lights like onyx gems. Satisfied, the woman turned towards the door, stepping past the frame as it open automatically before locking it from the outside with a hand scanner. She trudged through the halls, paying no heed to the sentry bots that patrolled nor to the few officers she came across. It wasn't long before she reached her destination: the bridge of the ship.

Her footsteps were silent, her cloak seemingly gliding across the floor, though she was sure her presence had been detected before she even stepped foot in the room.

"The Blue Lion has returned..." She informed, walking up to the Emperor's side. He stood with his hands folded at his back, staring out the massive window that took up most of the front wall. Multiple ships were taking off, heading out to their respective sectors. "...and with it, I feel a resurgence of Altean energy."

"Altean." Zarkon's voice rumbled deeply as he spared the woman a look from the corner of his eye. "So her son lives. How?"

"I know not." The woman replied and heard a growl surface from within Zarkon's chest. "But it is time to reclaim what is rightfully ours."

"I shall wipe that foul race from the universe _forever_ ," Zarkon stated, his tone final. "and take _back_ Voltron. Pull up the available Commanders within range, Haggar."

"Yes, my lord." She spoke as she glided away, and over to the control panel. Haggar pulled up a holographic screen containing a web of contacts spiraled over a starmap. She swiped and swiped as she searched for the location she felt the signatures spring from until she found it. She reached forward, fingers pulling as she increased the quality on the sector and expanded the image.

"My lord." Haggar called out. Zarkon turned and strode over to her, standing by her side as he gazed at the screen.

"These are the ships that are within range of the sector." She notified and waited as he stared silently for a few moments before speaking,

"Contact Commander Sendak."

She pressed an icon that contained a series of numbers under it and stepped off to the side as Zarkon settle in front of the screen. Almost immediately was the transmission connected and a large, furry Galra appeared on screen, kneeling before him.

"Commander Sendak." Zarkon addressed, "The Prince of Altea is alive and hiding in your sector. We believe he alone holds the whereabouts of the remaining lions. Your battle fleet is the closest to his location. Retrieve him and the lions." His eyes narrowed,

"He is of no use to me if he has perished. I want him _alive_ , Sendak." He warned. Sendak spoke,

"I fight for the empire. I conquer those in the name of Galra. No foe has ever stood in my way and none ever will." He saluted, "Vrepit Sa!"

Satisfied, Zarkon cut the transmission.

 ***.*.***

"Prince." Kolivan pleaded, a hovering dish of thick green substance nearby. "You must eat. It's been _ten thousand_ years."

Keith frowned deeper, typing away on the keyboard. "I'm not hungry."

"Geez, ten thousand years…" Shiro said, shaking his head, "...I'm still kind of reeling. And I can't believe you don't want to eat. That's the first thing I'd want to do, honestly." Off to his left, Katie scoffed, sparing him an irritated look. "Yeah well, no one _asked_ you, prince charming."

Ouch. Okay then if that's how it was going to be then Shiro could play fair. He felt his own eyes narrow, "Can it, drop out." He responded, watching thick auburn brows pinch together as Katie's expression grew scandalized.

Allura eyed the plate of mush warily, feeling her tummy rumble. She curled her arms over her abdomen as she sighed out wistfully. "Tell me about it." She whined, "I haven't eaten since _breakfast_ and I'm starving."

Hunk rose a brow as he gave her a flat look, "Yeah, but you also threw up like _three_ times."

Allura blinked, realizing the truth of that statement, "Huh. I suppose you're right." She ogled the food mush once more before shrugging and taking a scoop of some onto her fingers then tentatively taking a bite. She _almost_ regretted it as a shiver shot up her spine; the taste of it not something she expected at _all_. However, it wasn't _terribly_ bad and the texture was similar to jello so she found herself taking another bite.

"I can't believe your civilization created such advanced technology ten thousand years ago." Lance spoke out, observing the hovering dish in awe. His blue eyes turned away as Allura stuffed more mush into her mouth, her facial expressions causing him to let out a stream of chuckles.

"I bet it was an incredible place."

Kolivan's eyes closed as he let out a small sigh, "Yes, it was…" his gaze was sad when he open his eyes once more, "...but now it is gone and we are the last Alteans alive." He looked over to Keith, whom now had his head bowed, hands trembling as they hover over the keyboard. Kolivan walked over to his side and Keith turned to him silently, arms wrapping around his torso as he buried his face in the larger man's chest, quiet sniffles escaping as Kolivan hugged him in return.

It was sad and the air felt heavy as the group watched these two aliens grieve over the loss of their worlds— over the loss of their _home_.

Suddenly, one of Keith's pointed ears twitched and he looked up from Kolivan's chest in startle. He pulled away from the embrace and hurried over to the pod that he awoke in, kneeling down as he looked inside.

"Looks like we're not the last, after all." He spoke with a watery smile, reaching in. As he sat back against the pod, there were four mice in his hands, nuzzling his chest and squeaking happily.

An alarm sounded abruptly, startling everyone. The monitor had changed from blue to red and an image of a cruiser ship flicked across the screen.

Kolivan pulled up the image and growled, "A Galra battleship has set it's tracker to us!" He informed. Keith immediately rose from the ground, holding the mice closer. "How did they _find_ us?"

"I bet it's Shiro's fault." Katie grumbled. Shiro flounded for words before hissing, "Watch your mouth _shortie_."

Katie turned to him, posture tense and her hands in fists, "Excuse me but I'm not the one who got us _stuck on the other side of a wormhole_!"

Shiro turned, his own agitation getting the better of him, "I'm about to find another to stick you in it if you don't _piss off_!"

Lance quickly came over, throwing an arm between the two before things could escalate. "Cool it cadets! This is seriously not the time to play the blame game." Katie huffed and turned away, Shiro scoffing. Lance grimaced, a stray thought of having to deal with _kids_ for who knows how long crossing his mind. He faced Kolivan, "How long until they get here?"

Kolivan tilted his head in thought, "At the speed they're proceeding at—" He muttered as he raised his fingers, doing some mental math. "— I'd say we have, perhaps a couple of days?"

"Good. _Let_ them come!" Keith snarled, setting the mice on the control pad. He looked out over the five humans standing before him, eyes hard. "By the time they get here, you five will have reformed Voltron and together, we are going to put an end to Zarkon's empire."

Lance stepped forward, "Prince, there are five of these lions. How exactly are we going to find the rest of them?"

Kolivan and Keith looked at one another. "Follow me." Keith said, letting the mice crawl into his hands once more before turning around and walking out the room. Kolivan followed behind him, urging for the others to do the same. They all trailed behind Keith for some time, walking through hallway after hallway and traveling some stairs before fitting into a large elevator.

It is to be said that alien elevators were way faster than Earth elevators. Just saying.

The Alteans watched in curiosity as the Humans clutched onto each other or the hand rails respectively, some letting out whines or gasps until they arrive to the designated floor.

"I felt like my heart was going to explode." Hunk wheezed, slowly letting go of the rails.

"Same." Lance rasped. He stared in betrayal at the Alteans. "Please warn us next time that your elevators are going try and flatten us with gravity." A collective noise rumbled in agreement.

Kolivan tilted his head, "Is your species fragile?"

"Some of us?" Hunk muttered as they followed Keith out the elevator, onto the bridge of the ship. "Though, not really in relation to this. We were mostly just unprepared for the speed. The lifts back on Earth have been structured a way in that we barely feel the gravitational pull as we go up."

"Hmm." Kolivan hummed, "Fascinating."

Keith stepped over a glowing platform in the floor and under a large crystal embedded into the ceiling. A light blue light shone down over him as he closed his eyes.

"Queen Krolia connected the lions to Keith's lifeforce." Kolivan explained quietly. "He alone is the key to finding the lions whereabouts."

It took a moment but suddenly Keith's eyes snapped open and with the action, a large virtual map expelled from where he stood and took over the room. They all, minus Kolivan, stared in awe.

"These are...coordinates?" Hunk gaped, watching as a small projection of the Blue and Black Lions pointing towards a shared planet floated past him. "The Black Lion looks to be in the same location as the Blue Lion." He stated in confusion.

Kolivan let out a pleased hum, "Look at your primitive synapses firing away in their little brain cage."

Keith let out a smile at Kolivan teasing Hunk. "Pretty observant. That's because the Black Lion is also in the castle." He explained.

"To keep the Black Lion out of Zarkon's grasp, Queen Krolia contained it within the castle." Kolivan furthered, "For it to be freed, the other four lions are to be present."

"As you all must have realized, the lions choose their pilots." Keith said, shifting the map. "It is a mystical bond and cannot be forced. The Quintessence of the pilot is mirrored in their lion. Together, they form something greater than science can explain." He watched as they all reacted to his words with interest and unveiled caution on some.

"The Black Lion is the decisive head of Voltron." Keith swiped the map to the side, "It will choose a pilot that is a natural leader and is balanced at all times. Someone who's men will follow without hesitation." The small image of the Black Lion slid across the room with the map before slowing to a stop in front of Lance, who stared down at it with a hum.

"That is why, Lance, you will pilot the Black Lion." Keith concluded with a nod. He gave a swipe to his right. "The Green Lion has an inquisitive personality and needs a pilot of intellect and daring." An image of the Green Lion with its coordinates slide in front of Hunk, who grinned happily.

"Hunk, you will pilot the Green Lion." Keith informed, "The Blue Lion-"

"Wait, don't tell me." Shiro interrupted, grinning. "Takes the most handsome and talented of the bunch?" He winked at Keith who stared at him flatly. Then he sighed and swiped across the screen, a vein in his temple nearly visible.

" _No_ …" He continued in exasperation, "...the Blue Lion is a free spirit, ever-changing and flexible. Full of trust and faith. A foundation of security to others." The small projection of the lion slid in front of Shiro. He watched as Shiro's grin fell, replaced with a caught-off guard look. He looked up and Keith locked eyes with him,

"You have already gained its approval." Keith said, "Don't look so surprised." He swiped once more, breaking their gaze as he searched.

"The Yellow Lion is caring and kind." The prince smiled as he found it. "It's pilot is one who puts the needs of others above their own. Their heart strong and unwavering." The Yellow Lion and its coordinates slid over by Allura's head and she jumped, staring at Keith unsurely. The Altean gave a encouraging smile, "As the leg of Voltron, you will lift the team up and hold them together."

Keith closed his eyes, palms together as he tried to call for the final coordinations. "The Red Lion is tempermental and the most difficult to master." He began gently, opening his hands as the projection of just the lion appeared in them. "It's faster and more agile than the others but also the most unpredictable." He pushed the image, sending it over to Katie who stared at it in consideration, with her arms crossed.

"It needs a pilot who relies more on instincts than skills alone. Katie, you will fly the Red Lion."

"Really? This girl?" Shiro muttered, feeling a bit salty and the brunette glared in response.

"Unfortunately, I cannot locate the Red lion's coordinates yet." Keith informed, tone on the edge of worry as he placed a hand to his chin. "There must be something wrong with the castle." He hummed with a small smile. "After ten thousand years, it might need some work."

"Repairs and tune-ups will begin shortly." Kolivan offered, "Then we'll find the Red Lion's coordinates in due time."

Suddenly the projection of the Red Lion let out a roar, the sound being mimicked by the others. The lions charged together and flew up towards the ceiling.

"Once all the lions are united, you will form Voltron—" There was a flash of light and suddenly the large mecha they saw from before, when they found the Blue Lion, appeared over them all, standing mighty and tall.

"—the most powerful warrior ever known and Defender of the Universe." Keith finished as the projections faded and the bridge of the ship was basked in daylight.

"That's pretty dope." Hunk whistled. Allura was starry-eyed before pausing, "Wait." She said suddenly, "We're going to be in there and flying lions. Got that part." She held her head in bemusement. "How do I go from being a giant space cat to a hunkin' pair of legs? Or rather, _a_ leg, I guess. Also, is this going to be a long trip? Because I need to pee." She gained a thoughtful look, "Do you people pee?"

Lance crossed his arms, frowning. "You know we don't have much time on our hands. Hunk and I will go after the Green lion. Shiro, you take Allura to find the Yellow one. Katie," He turned towards the petite female.

"You stay here. If you locate that Red Lion, go get it."

She paused then gave a stiff nod, turning to look over at the two Alteans. "In the meantime, I'll prepare the castle's defenses." Keith informed with a sigh, "They'll be sorely needed."

"I'll ready a podship and program the coordinates so that you can set off for the Green Lion." Kolivan offered.

"Okay, looks like we've got a plan." Lance clapped his hands.

Finding the podrooms didn't take long, Kolivan knowing this castle like the back of his hand. He chose the closest one and input the coordinates and soon the paladins were prepared and ready to go; flying out of the castle and into space, the pod and the Blue Lion going in different directions respectively.

Katie watched as two small podiums rose on either side of Keith, stopping at his hips. He exhaled before closing his eyes and placed his palms flat against the smooth, rounded surface on the top and they glowed brightly in response.

"The wormholes that will lead you to the lions will only be sustained for two of your Earth hours, so do try to work quickly." She heard Kolivan tell the others. The brunette looked over her shoulder to find the monitor split into two, showing each ships inhabitants.

"The good news is that, according to my research, they both prove to be peaceful planets. Meaning that if you do get stuck, they could be relaxing homes to live out the rest of your life spans on." He nodded, "Enjoy the trip!"

Immediately, four voices joined as they protested the sentiment. However, their complaints and worrying were quickly silenced as they entered the wormholes.

 ***.*.***

The information on the tracker that Hunk held was written in an unfamiliar language (probably Altean?) but he chose to ignore them in favor of watching the pictures as his guide. He and Lance walked through, what appeared to be a jungle or swamp, this planet full of vegetation and plant life. Eventually they found themselves at the bay of a river, the water colored a light green.

Hunk looked around before pointing off to the side. "Look!" A large canoe rested against the shore, the crest designed similarly to a lion's head.

"We found uh, _something_?" Lance pondered, holding his chin in his hand. He turned to Hunk only to freeze.

"What is it?" Hunk asked before turning behind him, following Lance's gaze. They both shrieked in fear at the sight of an alien, looking not too dissimilar to a large sloth, towering next to them.

"I-it's a…" Hunk trailed off as the alien made a croaking noise, tilting its head. "...whatever that thing is."

They watched as the creature suddenly walked off in the direction of the boat. Sensing that they weren't following, the alien turned around and waved them over, croaking as it did. Lance and Hunk blinked before sparing each other a look of confusion,

"I uh, I think he wants us to get in his canoe." Hunk said, dumbfounded. Lance paused then shrugged,

"Then I guess we should go?"

"Huh?" Hunk threw him a confused look. Lance only gave him a soft smile in return, one of the first Hunk had seen since Lance woke up. He clapped the large man on the shoulder, and Hunk felt the strong grip he held,

"I've been locked up by aliens for a year." He reminded, then walked off to follow the alien saying, "This is nothing."

They climbed in to the boat and set off down the stream. The silence was interrupted as small creatures native to the planet peeked out from the bushes and overgrowth, chirping and squeaking as they greeted Lance and Hunk. It left them both with pleasant feelings as they watched on, more and more creatures popping around the river. They soon found a cave, the familiar drawing of a lion at the mouth of it telling them they were getting close. Which proved to be true, as the drawings of lions along the cave's walls served a deja-vu feeling to them the deeper they traveled inside.

"Hmm." Hunk hummed, letting his fingers run in the water as the boat moved. Lance watched his best friend smile as the water shimmered and spoke, gaze gentle.

"I wonder if Allura and Shiro are having as good a time as us?"

The answer?

They weren't.

" _Oh my god_!" Shiro screamed as the Blue Lion spun. He was trying his damn best not to panic but it was _really_ freaking hard when one was tasked with having to duck and weave out of the way of shots being fired at them from an enemy ship. Then a monitor pulled over the lower part of his screen and Shiro gulped:

Make that _multiple_ enemy ships.

He watched as the ships let loose what look like, _freaking missiles_ at them and he pulled the controls, flying higher into the sky as two missiles breezed past him and exploded. He pressed into a nosedive as he managed to dodge some more. However he ended up getting shot by a stray and the collision rattled the lion and threw off his flight pattern, sending them crashing to the ground with screams.

"I thought Kolivan said these planets were _peaceful_!" Allura shrieked as she clutched at Shiro's chair in a desperate attempt to stay grounded.

"Maybe 'peaceful' means something else in Altean!" Shiro snapped, sweat rolling down his face as he pulled back the control sticks. The Blue Lion somersaulted into a landing before breaking out into a run. Shiro weaved them through the blasts being pelted at the earth and took off into the air once more. In the direction they flew in, more lasers were shot at them from the ground. They managed to fly into a Galra mine and Shiro gritted his teeth, feeling a few blasts hit them.

Allura groaned, feeling nauseous and frazzled as she pulled out the tracker. "According to the coordinates, we're right on top of the Yellow Lion."

The monitor of Blue's screen zoomed into the mine hole and entryway. "It's below there, where they're mining for the ore. They don't even _know_ the Lion is there. Or maybe they just got here and they're digging for the Lion? What do you think, Shiro?"

Shiro looked at her over his shoulder, eyes frantic. "Who cares? Just go get it!" The lion shook, "I'm dropping you down there."

Alura paled, backing up slightly, "Me? Down there? No. No, no, no."

" _Yes_ , I'll cover you." Shiro flew down into the mine, landing and running towards the cavern, crushing the sentry bots in his path.

"No, please— what if the Yellow Lion doesn't work? Wh-What if I—What if I can't get in the mine?" Allura wheezed, on the verge of hyperventilating. "What if I start crying? It's too late! I'm already crying!" The tears rushed down her face thickly and Shiro clutched his controls.

"I'm sorry hun but no time for questions!" He reached forward and pressed an eject button, listening to Allura scream as she fell through the shoot. She was expelled out the Blue Lion's mouth and grunted in pain as she hit the ground before tucking herself into a ball to minimize the damage. She rolled right into the entryway, gasping for air and panting as she lay on the ground once she unfurled, her body buzzing. She watched as the Blue Lion skidded to a stop in front of the entry, before taking off— drawing the heavy firearms away from the area.

Allura pushed herself up, body trembling as she stumbled into the mine lift and away from any stray lasers. Vexation crawled up her spine as she hurriedly opened the control box, and grabbed a pair of wires to hot wire the damn machine. Assuming that it worked like Earth tech, that is.

"Oh yeah, sure, just drop me off in an alien planet. That's cool, no biggie." she muttered as she started rerouting the power. "It's not like it's inhabited by a bunch of mean, purple aliens that are trying to kill me." She scoffed, trying to get the damn thing to light up, "Just ignore them and go _connect_ with a giant yellow, mechanical space cat, no pressure. Yeah that all makes a _ton_ of sense to me."

Suddenly the lift activated and the girl let out a breath of relief. She ducked down low as stray shot hit the wall of the lift and didn't come up until she was a safe distance from the entrance. Allura stared in wonder at the drawings of lions along the walls and ceiling that grew in cluster as she descended further down. Once the lift reached the ground, the curvy girl hopped out and looked around, taking in the light structures, half-made paths and the drill machines lying about.

There was a sudden tremor and Allura stumble before finding her footing.

"Okay, I'm in a giant hole." She muttered, "Now what, Allura?" She took a few steps around the surrounding area in search until the carvings on the ground lit up a brilliant yellow under her foot. She watched as they continued to light up in a trail, traveling up the wall to a glowing circle target of some sort.

"Whoa, pretty." She murmured in awe though her brows furrowed in bemusement.

"How am I supposed to get that?" It was then that she remembered where she was and turned around to find a mobile drill behind her.

"That could work." Allura grinned brightly and mounted the machine. It took some fumbling but she managed to turn it on, watching as the drill swirled to life in front of her. She drove it in the direction of the circle and plunged through it, muscles tense as the drill cut through layers upon layers of wall. Eventually, she made it through to the other side and sitting before her was the Yellow Lion, head tilted down as it stared at her with it's piercing glowing golden gaze.

Above on the surface, Shiro grunted as the Blue Lion hit the ground, rolling onto its paws. He lifted his tail and shot out a beam, hoping to hit one of the fighter jets heading towards him. The bulky man dodges and jumps into the air, activating Blue's thrusters and flying towards the ships, shooting more shots from his tail. He flew straight towards one and clamped down onto it in Blue's jaws, forcing them to bite through it until it exploded.

The fighter jets suddenly stopped firing and flew past Shiro, causing him to blink in surprise before his eyes widened as dread filled his stomach.

" _Oh no_!"

He quickly turned the Blue Lion around and followed after the ships, watching as they shot at the ground. He let out a blast from Blue's mouth canon and destroyed two of them but the one he missed let out a missile and it landed a solid hit right on the mine entrance.

" _No!_ " He screamed as he watched it all blow up spectacularly, the flame of the blast incinerating any and all things within range and traveling along half the minefield.

" _Allura!_ "


End file.
